Category Archive for : ‘Articles’

12

It seems many of us do not like the government telling us how we should conduct our lives. The current lockdown has elicited vigorous opposition in certain corners of the media, and indeed on many streets around the world. The suggestions that a vaccine may become mandatory, if and when it is eventually developed, will no doubt create even bigger waves of resistance. Professor Ian Philip, a health expert at Sheffield University and government advisor, said, “The real challenge is that people don’t want to hear messages from government…”

08

Listening today to a lecture by Srila Prabhupada, my esteemed teacher, I was struck by a brilliant analogy he gave. First, he cited a verse from Vedic literature which basically states that the attempt to improve one’s material situation amounts to nothing more than ‘decorating a dead body’. In other words, the material body is destined to die today or tomorrow. It is always dead, in one sense, as it is only animated by the soul within, which is who we are. As C.S.Lewis famously said, ‘You don’t have a

30

In its most recent survey on the subject of God, the National Centre for Social Research found that some ninety percent of us claim to be believers. One in five even said they had no doubts about God’s existence. Such statistics are perhaps surprising, given that education today tends to steer us toward more atheistic notions such as the’ Big Bang’ and evolution. Surprising also in the face of the widely touted suggestion that religion is the cause of most conflicts, a suggestion seemingly reinforced by the ferocity of some

22

The first question often asked about the Bhagavad-gita is why was it spoken on a battlefield? Despite a common view that religion is a major cause of war, the general view is that the two should remain separate. Religion or spirituality should result in peace not conflict. If one’s spiritual practises bring about the bloodthirsty desire to eliminate the followers of some other faith then they must be suspect. That would surely seem to make sense.
Nevertheless the Gita did arise from a war, the great Battle of Kurukshetra. Not only

29

When my children were small they pooled their resources one year to purchase for my birthday a fine looking tie pin in the shape of a golf bag and clubs. Actually I’ve never played golf in my life, and as far as ties go, since my schooldays when they were obligatory, I have made a point of avoiding them. Anyway, although the tiepin was of little use to me I was thrilled to receive it, as it was given with love. I still have it safely stored in my very

11

Exactly echoing a message found in the Bhagavad-gita, a senior judge recently declared that “almost all of society’s social ills can be traced directly to the collapse of the family life.”

In a speech in Brighton to lawyers from Resolution, formerly the Solicitors’ Family Law Association, Mr Justice Coleridge warned of a “cancerous” increase in broken families and said the government must take “comprehensive action”. He described his experience of handling increasing numbers of cases in family courts as being a “never ending carnival of human misery – a ceaseless river

11

“It is by the goodness of God that we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practise either of them,” wrote Mark Twain. Wise words from the esteemed author, although it seems many of us may doubt their wisdom; especially in the wake of the terrible events just witnessed in Paris. Freedom of speech has never been more vigorously defended by so many.

It is understandable that this particular freedom is held so dear. It stands in stark contrast to the

04

Every autumn for the last few years I have been subjected to a sad and harrowing experience. Living close to a livestock farm I have had to listen to the plaintive wails of distressed cows separated from their calves. Where the calves were taken does not bear mentioning, and the poor cattle respond by crying piteously day and night, exactly as any human mother would if she were to lose a child.

25

At Christmas time the expectations for increased enjoyment are high, but how many of us actually experience more happiness during the holiday? Financial strain, endless shopping, the pressures of entertaining, and the general stress of the season can all contribute to a rather less than merry Christmas for many.

Anyone who watches TV over the Christmas period will be used to seeing helpline details frequently flash across the screen. Depression is an all too common problem as the holiday culminates in a huge anticlimax. And then it’s back to

19

Research figures just released reveal an alarming rise in the number of impoverished households in the UK. The Poverty and Social Exclusion project, based on interviews with more than 14,500 people in Britain and Northern Ireland has reported:
• More than 500,000 children live in families who cannot afford to feed them properly
• 18 million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions
• 12 million people are too poor to engage in common social activities
• About 5.5 million adults go without essential clothing
According to the most recent figures from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,